Government & Civil Service
State-administered notary public and civil-service licensing exams.
8 exams · 935 free practice questions · Verified against official sources September 30, 2026
- Exams
- 8
- Exam families
- 5
- Free practice questions
- 935
- Study guides
- 8
- Cheat sheets
- 8
Which exam are you taking?
Exams are grouped with their close relatives — the other tiers of the same licence, the same exam in other states. Open a group to see each exam with its free practice questions, study guide and cheat sheet.
- Civil service1 exam60 free questionsFederal and state civil-service assessments — starting with the USPS Virtual Entry Assessments (Postal Exams 474-477).USPS Postal ExamExplore Civil service →
- Corrections1 exam60 free questionsCorrectional officer selection exams — starting with the CDCR written examination.CDCR Officer ExamExplore Corrections →
- Law enforcement entrance1 exam60 free questionsPolice entrance examinations — starting with California's POST Entry-Level Law Enforcement Test Battery (PELLETB).CA POST PELLETBExplore Law enforcement entrance →
- Notary Public exams4 exams605 free questionsState notary public commissioning exams (state law, duties, and prohibited acts).New York NotaryCalifornia NotaryArizona NotaryPennsylvania NotaryExplore Notary Public exams →
- Trinidad & Tobago public service entrance1 exam150 free questionsEntrance examinations for Trinidad & Tobago public service and protective services careers.TT Fire ServiceExplore Trinidad & Tobago public service entrance →
Notary, corrections, police, postal — which public-sector exam is yours?
The exams in this section are unrelated to one another except in who gives them: a government body, as a condition of a commission or a job. A notary public is commissioned by the state — usually the Secretary of State or Department of State — and several states test applicants before commissioning them. Correctional officer and police entrance exams are hiring screens run by the employing agency or a state standards commission. The Postal Service's Virtual Entry Assessment is a job-application step, not a licence. And the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service entrance sits here because it is the same kind of thing: a public-service entrance examination with statutory eligibility rules.
Notary rules are the ones candidates most often get wrong, because they assume the rules are national. They are not. California requires an approved education course, a written exam and a Live Scan fingerprint background check before commissioning. New York requires a written exam for most applicants — attorneys and qualifying court clerks are exempt — and residency or a place of business in the state. Pennsylvania requires a pre-approved education course completed shortly before application and an exam through Pearson VUE. Arizona requires citizenship or permanent residency, Arizona residency and, since its recent rule change, an exam. Many other states commission notaries with no exam at all.
Hiring exams are scored differently from licensing exams. California POST's entry-level test battery reports a T-score and lets each hiring agency set its own minimum, and scores never expire. CDCR's written exam is one step in a sequence that also includes a physical fitness test and a background investigation. The Postal Service reports its assessment as eligible or ineligible, not as a number, and never charges a fee for it.
Find your exam
Links go to the exam guide, where the question count, time limit, fee and passing standard come from the statute or agency page for that state or agency.
Approved education course first — a longer course for first-time applicants, a shorter refresher for renewals while the commission is still active — then the Secretary of State's written exam and a Live Scan background check. Fees a notary may charge per act are capped by statute.
Most applicants must pass the Department of State's written exam; New York attorneys and qualifying Unified Court System clerks are exempt. You must be a state resident or have an office or place of business in New York, and the notary tracks and renews the commission on time.
Arizona requires U.S. citizenship or permanent residency, Arizona residency for tax purposes and an exam. Pennsylvania requires a pre-approved education course completed within the months before application and an exam delivered by Pearson VUE, with one online attempt allowed and a window to pass after authorisation.
CDCR's written exam covers grammar, spelling, punctuation, reading comprehension and basic mathematics and is one step in a sequence with the physical fitness test and background investigation. Failing or missing it triggers a waiting period before you may reapply.
The POST Entry-Level Law Enforcement Test Battery: a writing section and a reading section, reported as a T-score. POST recommends a minimum but each agency sets its own, scores do not expire, and a retest requires a waiting period.
The Virtual Entry Assessment, required for entry-level roles such as carrier, mail handler and processing clerk. Taken online as part of the application, reported as eligible or ineligible, free — USPS never charges for exams or applications. A failed version cannot be retaken for a year, but a different version may be taken immediately for a different job group.
Statutory eligibility — citizenship of Trinidad and Tobago, a compulsory pass in English at the required grade, good character verified by certificate — then the entrance examination and training at the Fire Service School.
How these processes run
- 01Confirm eligibility with the commissioning or hiring body: age, residency or citizenship, character and, for notaries, any education course that must come before the exam.
- 02Complete the required education where the state has one — California and Pennsylvania do for notaries — inside the window the state sets before application.
- 03Sit the exam the body prescribes: a state written exam for notaries, an agency or POST test battery for law enforcement and corrections, the online assessment for the Postal Service.
- 04Finish the steps after the exam that actually confer the commission or the job: fingerprinting and background checks, physical tests for peace officers, the oath and bond for notaries, and the renewal calendar the notary is responsible for keeping.
Fee, format and passing standard
The 4 exams asked about most, of 8 on this page. Each figure is that exam's verified fact, cited to the regulator's page on the exam guide it links to. A blank cell means the regulator publishes no fixed figure.
| Exam | Fee | Questions | Time | Passing | Written by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Notary | $40 | — | — | 70% | California Secretary of State |
| New York Notary | $15 | — | 1h | — | New York Department of State |
| Arizona Notary | $35 | 45 | 1h | 80% | Arizona Secretary of State |
| Pennsylvania Notary | $65 | — | — | — | Pennsylvania Department of State |
Who writes these exams
- State Secretaries of State and Departments of State
- Commission notaries, set education and exam requirements, cap fees and handle renewal. Each state's rules stand alone.
- Hiring agencies and standards commissions
- CDCR runs its own hiring exam; California POST writes the entry-level test battery that local agencies use with their own cut scores; the Postal Service runs the Virtual Entry Assessment inside its application system.
- Public Service Commission of Trinidad and Tobago
- Conducts entrance and promotion examinations for the Fire Service, whose eligibility rules are set by statute and the Ministry of National Security.
Official pages this section is drawn from
- California Secretary of State · Notary Public Qualifications
- New York Department of State · Become a Notary Public
- Arizona Secretary of State · New Notary
- Pennsylvania Department of State · Notary Examination Requirement
- Pennsylvania Department of State · Notaries — Mandatory Education Requirement
- California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation · Step 2: Written Examination — Peace Officer Careers
- California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training · LE Entry-Level Test Battery Applicant FAQs
- United States Postal Service · Postal exams — How to apply
- United States Postal Service · USPS Virtual Entry Assessment (VEA) Candidate Guide
- Ministry of National Security, Trinidad and Tobago · Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service (TTFS)
Frequently asked questions
Most test reading comprehension, writing or grammar, basic math, and role-specific judgment. Clerical, corrections, and law-enforcement exams each add their own sections, and the practice sets here mirror those question types.
Yes — free sample questions with explanations across civil service, corrections, law enforcement entrance tests like the PELLETB, and notary exams. No signup.
Only a few — New York, California, and Arizona among them — require a proctored exam; most states only require an application and oath. Arizona's exam is 45 questions, open book, with 80% required to pass.
Drill the reading and reasoning sections under time pressure first — they decide most scores — then use the role-specific practice sets for procedures and judgment scenarios.
Official sources
Every exam number on this page traces to a document published by the body that sets or administers the exam. These are the primary publishers cited across Government & Civil Service.
- Pearson VUEpearsonvue.comcited by 2 exams
- New York Department of Statedos.ny.govcited by 1 exam
- Arizona State Legislatureazleg.govcited by 1 exam
- Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service / Ministry of Homeland Securitynationalsecurity.gov.ttcited by 1 exam
- California Secretary of Statesos.ca.govcited by 1 exam
- Arizona Secretary of Stateazsos.govcited by 1 exam
- Pennsylvania Department of Statepa.govcited by 1 exam
- United States Postal Serviceabout.usps.comcited by 1 exam
- California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST)post.ca.govcited by 1 exam
- California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)cdcr.ca.govcited by 1 exam
Last verified against these documents:
What you'll find on every Government & Civil Service exam
Each exam has up to four pages, one per job to be done: practice the questions, understand the exam, study the outline, or revise the morning of. Flashcards and glossary terms sit inside the study guide rather than on pages of their own.
- Practice tests8
- Free question banks with a worked explanation on every answer.
- Exam guides8
- Cost, format, eligibility and difficulty, straight from the official outline.
- Study guides8
- Full outline coverage, plus the exam's flashcards and glossary terms.
- Cheat sheets8
- One-page summaries built for the last review, with a PDF download.